M/V Selendang Ayu Wreck
USA /
Alaska /
Unalaska /
World
/ USA
/ Alaska
/ Unalaska
shipwreck, interesting place
Off Cape Spray on December 6th, 2004 the Malaysian bulk carrier M/V Selendang Ayu lost power during a storm and began to drift toward the rocky coast of Unalaska Island. The Captain, hoping his crew could complete complex engine repairs and fearing that calling for help would entitle any responder to 10% of his ship & cargo value (per international salvage law) did not call for help for over 12hrs while his crew frantically attempted to repair the 2 cracked cylinder liners in the main engine.
When the Captain finally radioed the US Coast Guard late in the night of the 7th his ship was dragging her port anchor and being steadily pushed toward shore by large swells. First on scene was the USCG Cutter Alex Haley, then the commercial tug Sidney Foss, which both attempted to take the ship under tow but were only able to slow down the ships movement towards shore before tow cable after tow cable were snapped. Eventually, the port anchor chain parted, causing the ship to go broadside into the waves.
The crew dropped the Starboard anchor, which brought the ship back to pointing into the swell and the Captain ordered half his crew to abandon ship. He and the engineering crew remained on board to try to start the main engine, which was down 2 cylinders. 18 members of the crew had been airlifted to safety when at about 5pm, the Selendang Ayu ran aground and was spun broadside into the swell, which was now cresting 40 feet high and being driven by 70 knot winds.
The Captain and remaining crew abandoned ship and were being picked up by a USCG helicopter when a large wave hit the bow of the ship and sent water and spray up onto the hovering helicopter, which had 7 crew members and 3 coast guard men on board. The helicopter's engines immediately flamed out and it crashed into the 40ft waves. The USCG crew, wearing buoyant survival suits, floated free of the wreckage and were rescued while 6 members of the Selendang Ayu, wearing regular clothes, were never seen again. Only 1 crew member survived the helicopter crash and was washed ashore.
The Captain of the Selendang Ayu and the USCG Rescue Swimmer from the crashed helicopter were now stuck on board the ship, which was quickly being ripped in half on the rocks. They remained on the ship for over a hour before they were rescued.
The ship eventually broke in half, spilling its cargo of soybeans and over 400,000bbls of heavy fuel & diesel oil into the sea, in the worst shipwreck in Alaska since the Exxon Valdez. Over the following years, the ship was partially salvaged, but much of the hulk remains onsite today.
When the Captain finally radioed the US Coast Guard late in the night of the 7th his ship was dragging her port anchor and being steadily pushed toward shore by large swells. First on scene was the USCG Cutter Alex Haley, then the commercial tug Sidney Foss, which both attempted to take the ship under tow but were only able to slow down the ships movement towards shore before tow cable after tow cable were snapped. Eventually, the port anchor chain parted, causing the ship to go broadside into the waves.
The crew dropped the Starboard anchor, which brought the ship back to pointing into the swell and the Captain ordered half his crew to abandon ship. He and the engineering crew remained on board to try to start the main engine, which was down 2 cylinders. 18 members of the crew had been airlifted to safety when at about 5pm, the Selendang Ayu ran aground and was spun broadside into the swell, which was now cresting 40 feet high and being driven by 70 knot winds.
The Captain and remaining crew abandoned ship and were being picked up by a USCG helicopter when a large wave hit the bow of the ship and sent water and spray up onto the hovering helicopter, which had 7 crew members and 3 coast guard men on board. The helicopter's engines immediately flamed out and it crashed into the 40ft waves. The USCG crew, wearing buoyant survival suits, floated free of the wreckage and were rescued while 6 members of the Selendang Ayu, wearing regular clothes, were never seen again. Only 1 crew member survived the helicopter crash and was washed ashore.
The Captain of the Selendang Ayu and the USCG Rescue Swimmer from the crashed helicopter were now stuck on board the ship, which was quickly being ripped in half on the rocks. They remained on the ship for over a hour before they were rescued.
The ship eventually broke in half, spilling its cargo of soybeans and over 400,000bbls of heavy fuel & diesel oil into the sea, in the worst shipwreck in Alaska since the Exxon Valdez. Over the following years, the ship was partially salvaged, but much of the hulk remains onsite today.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selendang_Ayu
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 53°36'57"N 167°9'53"W
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